[F500] 493 engine #

Sun Dec 22 12:42:25 MST 2002

John, I understand where your coming from, but like the new Arrow car that is being built, no one has spent as much time in making a different rear suspension on their car than Chuck.  No one has a suspension that has as much up and down movement as his, none that I have seen.  If I recall yours is very slick, but not compared to Chuck's.  When people see the new Arrow rear suspension they will be crying in their beer.  Lets see what Jerry Ryan thinks after he visits John and Lester's shop in a few weeks.

Also, as far as weight goes, if Chuck was to build a new car around a Rotax with the way he does his rear suspension, it would still be light years ahead of what everyone else other than the Arrows is doing.  Of course that is just my opinion and that of some pretty good car builders, which I am not.

Bob Jordan
fmod15 at cox.net

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: John Whitling 
  To: f500 at www.f500.org 
  Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2002 11:43 AM
  Subject: Re: [F500] 493 engine #

  Much of Chuck's redesign is based on a lightweight car, which is allowed under short wheelbase and Kaw 440 engine rules. I don't want to take anything away from Chuck. He earned his championship win. And while his power to weight MIGHT not be as good a Rotax powered car, you don't need to shed any tears. His tire to weight ratio is quite superior. It's equivilant to the 500 cars being able to 9" wide tires. No small detail. 

  No doubt about it, his car just works. If I were him I wouldn't touch a thing ;-) 

  As for myself, my hopes were to be able to have a car that I could occasionally road race and regularly autocross. The closer we in solo rely on the GCR rules, the easier that will be for me.

  John Whitling

  Bob Jordan wrote:

    I don;t want to see F500 change very far from where it is right now.  Just some of the new cars being built will change it enough (Arrow for one), but I do have a few questions:

    #1--How much would a bespoke engine cost?

    #2--What is the cost of a sealed motor for the new Reynards?

    #3--Why would people at our level want to get involved with a company that is in a fight for it's very existance (Reynard)?

    #4--If I had $26k to spend all at once I would be talking to Bill at Small Fortune Racing to rebuild my car as close as possible to the way that Chuck V. has his car setup.  It wasn't the motor in Chuck's car that got him the National Fmod Championship, it was his redesigning his car and his driving!

    Bob Jordan
    fmod15 at cox.net

      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: John Whitling 
      To: f500 at www.f500.org 
      Sent: Friday, December 20, 2002 2:31 PM
      Subject: Re: [F500] 493 engine #

      That price is outta reach for many. Certainly it's a big change from $2000 +- that we've come to expect. I hope they make these motors slower than the 494. Maybe a spec exhaust??? It's seems obvious that whoever is steering this project has no concern for what this class is about. Why not just turn the 500s into the new Reynards? They're only $26k with a sealed motor and you get to play with wings!

      Mark Osterbrink wrote:

        Why in the world would we switch to an out of production "new" engine?  That is insane.  If there is to be a new engine, it should either be a bespoke unit from a manufacturer who is committed to making them in the numbers we require for as long as we want, or it should be the latest, newest version with the longest potential production run if it must be from a commercial line.  Adding a "new" engine that is out of production and available from only one source is completely unacceptable.  Between this and the two year seat belt rule, I'm ready to quit the SCCA for good.
          -----Original Message-----
          From: f500-admin at www.f500.org [mailto:f500-admin at www.f500.org]On Behalf Of Bob Jordan
          Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2002 9:19 PM
          To: f500 at www.f500.org
          Subject: Re: [F500] 493 engine #

          Well Jerry,

          The news isn't too good, from what I have been told!

          #1 ---PN# 400409409 is from a 2000 mxz 500.  It had a retail price of $1,361.97 just before is was discontinued.  It is no longer available.

          #2---PN#400409424 is from a 2002 and it is the only engine of three (3) that is available and the retail price is $3,218.97.  That does not include the ignition module and the ignition coil for another cost of $350.00.  Also, no carbs or an electric starter or exhaust either.

          #3--the 2003 engines are still available and are the same price as the 2002.  The problem is that all of the engines that are still available for all the years are on backorder.  The 493 RER (rotax electronic reserve) engine has to use the factory secondary clutch or if you use another clutch when you put it into reverse the clutch will open up all the way and go into top gear and bogg the motor down and not move.  The downfall to using the factory secondary clutch is that it uses a splined shaft that is metric not like our 1" keyed shaft that we all use now which adds another cost.  Also, my source got an e-mail from the tech manager at SCCA and he said that the required carbs and exhaust systems have not changed from the 2002 GCR which mean we will be using the same carbs as we are using now (38mm Road Racers & 34mm Solo II F-Mod).  All of this will show up in the February 2003 Fastrack.

          Knowing my source I would say all of this is very true.  The only this that I could have done is mix up the part numbers to the years, but I don't think it makes much of a difference at this point. 

          The following are my thought, not my sources!
          Unless someone can tell us different, the new engine maybe, now I said maybe an out of production engine for new snowmobile sales.  But there may be an agreement to produce so many units as needed.  Who knows?

          Bob Jordan
          fmod15 at cox.net

            ----- Original Message ----- 
            From: Gerald Ryan 
            To: f500 
            Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 9:07 AM
            Subject: [F500] 493 engine #

            Bob Jordon -

            Here are the numbers that I was given for the 493 Rotax engine only! 400409424 

            Does anyone know if this is the correct part number?

            Jerry
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